Daffodils in trials

This story took place in March of 1992.

After being delayed at the pharmacy and starting off late in the car for my college class, I thought, “I feel stressed out; I need something to laugh about.”

I had driven about four blocks when I suddenly discovered that my cola was spilling all over my lap. Fortunately, I was looking for a reason to laugh. I smiled as I turned around to go back home and change.

Arriving at the school about fifty minutes late, I parked and walked up to the school. As I was walking along the sidewalk, I noticed that the daffodils were beginning to bloom. They were so beautiful! I reached the doors and suddenly realized that I had left something in the car, a video I had borrowed from the health teacher (ironically, the video was on managing stress.) 🙂

As I turned to go back to the car to get the video, I thought, “Oh well, now I get to see the flowers three times instead of only once!”

What I noticed in looking at these daffodils was that even though the wind was blowing them a bit to and fro, they didn’t let it bother them. They didn’t get ruffled or upset, they just kept standing there looking beautiful.

After I had finished doing what needed to be done in the school, I took some time just to stand and look at those beautiful flowers. Out of that time came the following poem which is symbolic of trials in our lives.

Flowers in the wind

We stand though blown about,

Our flexibility allows us to bend,

We don’t stand straight and tall in the wind,

But rather bow down before the Lord our Maker,

We keep our God-given beauty, and

Our roots go down deep

Drawing life from the water He gives.

But if the strong winds and the torrential rains

Crush us or cause us to break,

We sprout and bloom again

Next spring.

Two days later, I was taking a walk in the neighborhood where we were living.  I noticed that there were some places where litter and rubble were strewn, but that did not stop the new life of spring from bursting forth.  You guessed it:  another poem.

New Life

The birds come back, announcing the news

Spring is coming!

Awake, oh sleeping earth!

Draw from the sources of life!

So come the winds,

Sometimes strong and violent,

Sometimes gentle and sweet,

And the rains–

Sometimes hard and driving,

Sometimes soft and caressing.

Almost overnight

New life appears!

The forsythia puts on her new yellow spring dress,

Flowering trees erupt into an extravagance of blossoms,

Daffodils bloom,

The willows don their soft, pale green attire.

Even amidst the rubble,

Amidst the discarded chunks of cement,

The trees and bushes bud;

Disregarding their surroundings,

They burst forth into bud and

Add beauty to less than beautiful surroundings.

And the clover and the wild spring onions

Sprout and grow in spite of the nearby discarded coke can and beer bottle;

New, fresh, confident they are!

They, too, announce that spring is here,

Another year, another spring,

Another reminder of hope to the world

That new life can be born from the old.

Awake, oh sleeping earth!

Draw from the SOURCE of life!

(A thought I have about this, and I can’t remember where I heard the idea, is that it is less about what happens to us in life, and more about how we react to it and learn from it.  Ultimately, in my life, I’ve found that trials have driven me into the arms of God, and that has made it worth it all in the long run.)  Blessings to you.